The University of Wisconsin women’s basketball team (11-20, 6-12 Big Ten) ended the 2022-2023 season with a loss against Purdue (19-10, 9-8 Big Ten) on the second day of the Big Ten tournament in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Despite an early tournament exit, the Badgers’ program continued to rebuild in Marisa Moseley’s second year as head coach and showed vast improvement to give Badger fans hope for the 2023-2024 season.
During the 2022-2023 season, the Wisconsin women’s basketball team broke or tied multiple school records, played tough in marquee matchups and showed a promising future through a young core of playmakers.
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Record-breaking game
Wisconsin broke the single-game field goal percentage record and tied two more school records in a dominant 103-49 win over Bradley Nov. 16. The early season victory was the first time the Badgers eclipsed the 100-point mark since Dec. 18, 2016, and was the team’s largest margin of victory since 1982.
The Badgers shot 39-61 from the field and converted a record-breaking 63.9% of field goals. This broke the longstanding 62.1% (41-66) field goal record record Wisconsin shot against Milwaukee in 1993.
Additionally, the Badgers tied two school records with 14 3-pointers and 34 assists. Wisconsin’s 14 made shots from downtown ties a record that was set last year against Michigan State Feb. 16, 2022.
Through two years as the Badgers head coach, Moseley’s squads have set or tied 14 school records and will look to continue chipping away at the record book later this year.
Marquee matchups
The Wisconsin women’s basketball team played 14 teams that made either the women’s NCAA tournament or the WNIT. Many of these matchups resulted in tough battles where the Badgers were able to showcase their ability to compete with some of the best teams in Division I women’s basketball.
Of the 14 postseason teams Wisconsin played, six of the teams the Badgers faced during their non-conference slate were at the beginning of the season. The Badgers had their first test against Kansas State, who is projected to earn a bid to the 2023 WNIT, in a highly anticipated matchup at American Family Field in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Nov. 11. Though the game resulted in a 77-63 loss, the Badgers showed their ability to stick around with successful Division I programs early in the season.
The Badgers endured a tough stretch of seven straight losses between Nov. 20 and Dec. 7. Six of the seven teams will be playing in the postseason at either the NCAA tournament or the WNIT.
Included in this drought was a close 68-60 loss against Georgia in the opening round of the Paradise Jam, a game in which Wisconsin led the Bulldogs through the first three quarters.
The Badgers also played another close game on Dec. 1 against Florida State in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge in which the Badgers went on a 21-6 run towards the end of the game to cut the deficit to three points with 30 seconds remaining.
Although Florida State would go on to win the matchup 92-87, Wisconsin proved once again that they were on the precipice of defeating national Division I contenders.
At the end of the 2022-2023 regular season, the cardinal and white’s development and improvements throughout the season paid dividends on the court. After falling on a four-game losing spurt in early February, the Badgers rallied to win four of their last five regular season matchups, including an upset win against No. 12 Michigan to enter the Big Ten as one of the hottest teams in the tournament.
Though Wisconsin finished the season with a 57-55 loss to Purdue in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament, the Badgers finished the season at 11-20, their greatest number of wins since the 2019-2020 season. Marisa Moseley’s squad also ended the season with six conference wins, their greatest since the 2010-2011 season.
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The future is bright
Wisconsin’s success during the 2022-2023 season was largely in part due to a young core of players — these include first-year players Serah Williams, Maty Wilke and Sania Copeland, who provided a spark on the court.
Williams entered the season as one of the top forwards from Canada. She averaged over 18 points and 14 rebounds per game as a senior, according to her biography. The freshman forward had an immediate impact on the court for Wisconsin, averaging just under 13 points per game and 5.4 rebounds per game. Williams was a wall on defense, leading the Big Ten Conference with 58 blocked shots during the season.
Wilke, a redshirt freshman, entered her first year donning the cardinal and white with a record breaking performance. The guard set a Wisconsin rookie record with 61 made 3-pointers and was third on the team in scoring, averaging 11.8 points per game.
Freshman guard Sania Copeland emerged as a reliable option off the bench during the 2022-2023 regular season. After a first half in which Copeland averaged less than 10 minutes of action per game, the guard finished her rookie season playing over 20 minutes off the bench in eight of the final 11 games of the season.
The 2022-2023 season featured glimpses of hope for the Wisconsin women’s basketball team, and these young players will continue to develop under Marisa Moseley over the 2023-2024 season, providing feelings of promise for the future of the women’s program.
